A Haitian rebel sets fire to a house the rebels suspect belongs to supporters of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, Monday. (AP/Walter Astrada)

CREDIT: (AP/Walter Astrada)

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (CP) - With heady rebels threatening to move on the capital, government loyalists set flaming barricades Monday to block the road to Port-au-Prince and 50 U.S. marines streamed in, rifles at the ready, to protect the U.S. Embassy and its staff. Frightened Haitian cabinet ministers were asking friends for places to hide, senior government sources said, a day after the rebels attacked two police stations outside the capital and seized Haiti's second-largest city, Cap-Haitien, with little resistance. Prime Minister Paul Martin, who was in Montreal on Monday meeting with area mayors, told a news conference that Canadian officials were monitoring the situation in Haiti "very, very closely." "We will do what is necessary," Martin said without elaborating. In Ottawa, Foreign Affairs spokesman Patrick Riel said non-essential Canadian personnel and their dependants were ordered out of Port-au-Prince on Monday. He also said that it was decided last month to beef up security personnel at the Canadian Embassy. He would not give details, except to say that more security personnel were assigned. In Cap-Haitien, rebels hunted down militants loyal to President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, accusing them of terrorizing the population in the days before the fall of the northern port city of 500,000. "I am a brick mason. I didn't do anything wrong," Jean-Bernard Prevalis, 33, pleaded as he was dragged away, head bleeding. "We're going to clean the city of all 'chimeres,' " said rebel Dieusauver Magustin, 26. Chimere, which means ghost, is used to describe hard-core Aristide militants. It was not clear what would happen to those detained.

One rebel said they were saving them from lynching. But another, Claudy Philippe, said: "The people show us the (chimere) houses. If they are there, we execute them." Thousands of people in Cap-Haitien demonstrated in favour of the rebellion Monday, chanting, "Aristide, get out!" and "Goodbye, Aristide." Residents went on a rampage of reprisals and looting that began after the insurgents seized the city. Looters stole the 800 tonnes of food from the UN World Food Program warehouse, according to the agency's Andrea Bagnoli, and people torched the colonial mansion of Mayor Wilmar Innocent, who supports Aristide. Rebel leader Guy Philippe said his men could do nothing to stop the looting, and blamed Aristide's government for leaving most of Haiti's eight million people hungry and desperate. However, some rebels later were seen trying to shoo away looters at Cap-Haitien's seaport. The rebels cut cellular telephone service in the city, saying they wanted no communication with Port-au-Prince.

Aid agencies have warned a humanitarian catastrophe is brewing, with 268,000 people who depended on food aid in northern Haiti being the most vulnerable. Canadians have been urged not to travel to Haiti and those who are there are being advised to leave while commercial means are available. Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Judy Sgro said in a news release Monday that visa services in Haiti would be maintained as long as the situation permits and a temporary visa office has been set up in the Canadian Embassy in Santo Domingo in neighbouring Dominican Republic. Sgro also said that "flexible consideration" will be given to people from Haiti seeking to extend their stay in Canada. Immigration officers at ports of entry will adopt a flexible approach when dealing with Haitian clients in view of the situation, she added. Meanwhile, Washington made a last-ditch effort Monday to find a political solution amid reports Haiti's opposition politicians - who are not aligned with the rebels - were on the brink of rejecting an earlier U.S.-backed peace plan because it did not call for Aristide's resignation. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell phoned opposition politicians and asked them to delay responding formally to the plan for 24 hours. Evans Paul, a leading opponent who once was allied with Aristide, said the coalition agreed that postponing its decision "will perhaps give Mr. Powell a little more time to consider his position . . . and give us the assurances we need" on Aristide's departure.